Don’t sell free houses, govt urges

Human Settlements Deputy Minister Pamela Tshwete is reiterating that holding title deeds is not a licence to sell government-subsidised houses.

“A title deed is proof of ownership of an asset that must be handed over to future generations. We discourage people who sell their houses after receiving their title deeds. This, including renting out of houses, is a bad habit that we must collectively address as a matter of urgency,” Tshwete said.

She was speaking during the handover of title deeds to beneficiaries at Obed Mthombeni Nkosi in Lesedi local municipality in Gauteng.

The deputy minister and Gauteng human settlements MEC Lebogang Maile told the community that receiving title deeds did not mean they should sell their houses.

They warned that the selling and renting of fully subsidised government houses has caused challenges for government and beneficiaries.

“A qualifying beneficiary can only benefit from one house from government. Our system is able to detect and prevent double-dipping.

“This results in people finding themselves destitute again and homeless after selling their houses,” Tshwete said.

Maile said government was committed to responding to all the concerns raised regarding the allocation of newly built houses.

“Where there have been problems, we have been responding as government and we will continue to do so. We are intensifying our campaign to give title deeds to housing beneficiaries. The plan is to hand over these homes, together with a title deed, on the same day,” said Maile.

The deputy minister and MEC personally handed over almost 500 title deeds, with the remaining 700 title deeds handed over to the beneficiaries by department officials later in the day.

The event was part of a community engagement programme ahead of the presidential imbizo scheduled to take place today in Sedibeng district municipality in Gauteng.

The imbizo is aimed at assessing service delivery through the implementation of the district development model, to enable integrated and responsive planning, implementation and budgeting across all spheres of government.

Maile said the Gauteng human settlements department plans to hand over 11 000 title deeds during the 2022-2023 financial year.

He said that in the previous financial year, close to 9 000 title deeds were given to beneficiaries in the province.

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Maile were to hand over newly built houses and title deeds to mostly women beneficiaries at Impumelelo township in Devon yesterday.